Warehouse retailer toasts rising profits

Majestic's strong growth continues, with pre-tax profit for the 26 weeks to Oct 1 up 16.7 per cent to £7.5 million.

The specialist drinks retailer enjoyed sales of £91 million, with like-for-likes up 2.4 per cent on the same period in 2006.

The average cost of a bottle of wine bought at Majestic is now £5.85, compared

with £5.66 in 2006, and average spend per customer has increased by £7 to £128.

Fine wine sales continued to show good growth, the retailer said, with sales of £20-plus wine increasing by 17.5 per cent. By Christmas, 38 branches of Majestic will have fine wine display areas, and there will be 141 stores in the UK.

Chief executive Tim How added: "Like-for-like UK sales for the four weeks from Oct 2 to Oct 29 were up 2.2 per cent. While we expect the environment to continue to be challenging, we are well-prepared for the important Christmas trading period."